Easiest U-boat to dive in the Eastern coast?

[AfterDark]

Been diving the U853 since the 1980's; it's cold and low vis but sometimes great vis, a roll of the dice.

The U352 is a cake walk even with bad vis, the one time I dove it the vis less than 10' but still a fun dive.

There is also the L8 off Bonnet Shores RI.

 

[tursiops]

You are missing at least the U-1105, which is off Piney Point, Maryland.

Which is in the Potomac River. Viz is usually zero. National Marine Protected Areas Center: U-1105 Black Panther Historic Shipwreck Preserve

 

[Astronomer]

At the risk of hijacking the thread... Which is the best for penetration? I’ve seen a couple of YouTube videos of U-869. Are there other candidates for significant penetration?

I'd also like to know that. Not that I'm planning on doing penetration dives in U-boats anytime soon, but I'm curious.

 

[AfterDark]

At the risk of hijacking the thread... Which is the best for penetration? I’ve seen a couple of YouTube videos of U-869. Are there other candidates for significant penetration?

The U853 is easy, there are large holes forward and aft that allows for penetration thru the central corridor. No lines are used because they tend to stay there and become entanglement hazards. It's basically a swim thru with the possibility of zero vis if the diver isn't careful, there is lots sediment to kick up.

 

[WinfieldNC]

At the risk of hijacking the thread... Which is the best for penetration? I’ve seen a couple of YouTube videos of U-869. Are there other candidates for significant penetration?

The U-352 is considered a war grave and penetration is illegal. I have no idea about the others.

 

[kablooey]

There’s also the UB-88 off Huntington Beach, California. It’s a WWI combat sub with several kills to its credit.

How it ended up off California is an interesting story, and easily found online.
In short, it was surrendered to the allies after the war, and finally sunk by the US Navy with target practice gunfire in 1921.

It’s an absolutely beautiful sight, and a real thrill to experience. The mostly intact wreck sits majestically upright and level on semi-hard sand at about 180fsw, so it’s a technical dive profile. There’s limited penetration possible, but the interior was gutted before sinking, so there’s not much to see anyway.
The sub has become a fish magnet and is always surrounded by schools of all types of fish. There’s even a few cold-loving Wolf Eels in residence, living in the holes blasted in the hull.

Current is not usually a problem, but cold water and limited viz are. Mix gas, doubles, CCRs, and drysuits are the norm, so sorry, it’s not an “easy” dive, and is probably off-topic for this thread, my apologies.

To my knowledge there are no charters going to the wreck regularly. Our group has only made private charters to the site.

.

 

[Colliam7]

I'd like to dive a U-boat (no penetration) sometime next year as I have always been fascinated by WWII history. I have done some research online and found that the most accessible ones are U-352, U85, U701, and U-853 (am I missing any?).

I have been on 3 of the 4 - U-352, U-701, U-85.

As many of the comments suggest, the U-352 is probably the easiest, and potentially most enjoyable dive of those three. It gives you a combination of depth, usually (not always) good visibility, some pellagics swimming around. It is s shorter dive, because of depth, but you are TOUCHING HISTORY, as you are with all three - they were sunk in hostile action.

The U-85 is shallower (~85 feet), colder (Labrador current rather than the Gulfstream) and the viz is not quite as good. In some ways it is a more interesting wreck I have dove it wet (5mm with 5mm hooded vest) and was reasonably comfortable, and I have dive it dry (my preference). It is not as frequently visted by the larger operators (Olympus and Discovery), but you can get a charter out to it. Some 30+ years ago, Jim Bunch spent what amounted to several years diving the boat, and actually cleaning it out, and wrote a book about it (A Shadow in the Sea: Germany's U-85). I have heard Jim speak about it a number of times, and - frankly - what he did, when he did it, is absolutely remarkable. He subsequently 'updated', or at least expanded, the topic in a second book (U-Boats Off the Outer Banks: Shadows in the Moonlight) which is a more general history of Torpedo Alley.

The U-701 is my personal favorite, but it is also the hardest to get to in terms of boats running out to it, and the most unpredictable in terms of conditions. It is similar to the U-352 in terms of depth, maybe a few feet deeper. I have been on it when storms had essentially cleared all of the sand away, and the boat was uncovered, there was little / no current, and the viz was great. I have also been on it when it was hard to actually see much of the boat because of covering sand, the current was ripping, and the viz was low. I don't know which operators go out to it with any regularity - I have gone out of Hatteras when I have been on it, but the number of Hatteras operators has shrunk over the years. In good conditions, it is a great dive.

 

[AfterDark]

The U-352 is considered a war grave and penetration is illegal. I have no idea about the others.

The U853 is a war grave also; remains can be seen during a swim thru. So far nobody has been there to stop divers. During the 1980's Germany did complain and the US Navy did what they could to seal the sub but those darn NE divers went back with cutting tools and opened it up again.

The U352 is filled with sand, penetration is not possible.

 

[Scuba-74]

So far nobody has been there to stop divers. During the 1980's Germany did complain and the US Navy did what they could to seal the sub but those darn NE divers went back with cutting tools and opened it up again.

That is unfortunate. Just because someone can do something, doesn’t mean they should.

When was the last time you dove it? I believe by now she deteriorated to the point that penetration is at the very least not advisable. I think the last videos I’ve seen of her were from Squalus marine, and it didn’t look like something I would want to enter…

 

[coldwaterglutton]

The OP was asking about easier U-boat dives. The U-869 is definitely not on that list!